thirty one days in november
by sarsaparillia
Summary: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.
1. save you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: late-night bus rides.  
**notes**: what am i doing. WHAT AM I DOING.

**title**: save you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_she cheats Death to catch him as he falls_

/ / /

"_No_!"

The word rung out through the Elder's Hall like a gunshot. Haruno Sakura stood at the end of the hall, fists slammed down on the table in front of her, fire in her glare. She stared at the oldest men in the village, determined not to lose control of this meeting.

They sat in a line on a raised dais, and cowered from her burning eyes.

She was Haruno-Fucking-_Sakura_, and she would be _damned_ if she let him die without a fight.

"Then what do you propose, Haruno-san?" the oldest man asked. He was sitting in the center of the long table with the tips of his fingers pressed together. He looked old and gaunt and tired and Sakura knew that she should have known his name, but she just didn't have the energy to care.

He was trying to help rid the world of one of the few people she cared about, and that was _not_ okay.

"Death is the punishment for those that betray their homeland. It has always been thus," said the man to his right.

Sakura could feel her eye twitching. She wanted to scream at them; hurt them, destroy them the same way she'd been destroyed. She could see that Naruto was close to screeching at them, could see the muscle beneath his jaw twitching, could see his hands clenching.

She knew they were mirrored on her face.

_Stay cool, stay cool_, she told herself. _Shishou will deal with it. She always does. It's going to be okay. It has to be okay_.

Sakura shot a glance at her teacher.

Tsunade was smiling graciously. She pushed blonde hair over her shoulder, and stared at them all, polite and distant. "Gentlemen, gentlemen," she said. "Now, listen to me. The war is over. Konoha got very, very lucky."

The slight smile vanished. "I suggest you don't _push_ that luck. We wouldn't want something _unfortunate_ to happen, like our heroes _leaving_ us, am I correct?"

She let the statement hang in the open air for a second. Sakura watched with a vicious smile as the Elders processed her shishou's words.

It was very silent in the hall for a very long time.

"Good day, gentlemen," Tsunade said finally.

The Elders sat at their table and stared, open-mouthed. The courteous smile on Tsunade's face returned, and she gestured to Naruto and Sakura. They were leaving.

It felt like victory.


	2. find you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: to the curve of your cheek in dark glass.  
**notes**: just. just. i don't know, okay. i don't know.

**title**: find you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_take this newfound freedom one day at a time _

/ / /

Sakura wrapped her arms around herself and stepped into Konoha's high-security prison. It was a dank, dark place, and Sakura shuddered.

She hated cages.

"Where is he?" Sakura asked.

"Just keep walking," Shiho replied.

Sakura didn't bother to nod, just started forward. She'd never liked Shiho—the girl was a year younger, and maybe it was because they were too much alike; both too smart, too shy, too unsure of themselves.

Or, they had been, once.

Sakura struck out forward, determined.

She wasn't a shy, weak little girl any longer.

She had better things to do.

She walked past cell after cell. Most were empty. Some were not. The hallway went on forever. Sakura walked and walked, chancing a glance into every cell. Empty, empty, empty.

And then Sasuke.

He was sitting in the back corner, head bowed, hands clasped in front of him.

She would have said he was praying, if she didn't know better.

At the clang of keys against lock, he looked up, eyes dark and wary. Sakura smiled at him as the lock clicked open.

"You can come out, now."


	3. damage you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: les.  
**notes**: skjfhaslkj.

**title**: damage you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_he lives this legacy of solitude in silence_

/ / /

For the first time in five very long years, Sasuke stepped inside the Uchiha Compound.

It was like walking into a building graveyard.

Sakura walked half a step behind him. There was something sacred about the Uchiha Compound; it had been empty for so long that Sakura didn't even know if she was _allowed_ in.

Sasuke shot a glance back at her. She was straight ahead, her face neutral.

She was quiet.

Sasuke had expected speech. He'd expected anger.

He'd expected to be punched in the face.

He'd expected her to be _Sakura_.

But she'd done none of those things. She'd fought for his release, and then had turned mute. It was unnerving. It was unexpected.

Sasuke had never liked the unexpected.

She walked him to the front door. She didn't look at him as she said "I'll come get you tomorrow."

She was gone before he would reply.

Sasuke clenched his jaw.

Who was this girl who'd become his jailer?


	4. remember you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: um. cookies.  
**notes**: imma be fat and eat cookies. kpce. also, ignoring canon.

**title**: remember you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_he was going to catch a cold from the ice inside his soul_

/ / /

He was back in the darkness of the battlefield; breathing smoke, eyes fuzzy, head pounding, blood here, blood there, blood _everywhere_. Black fire in his hands, in his gaze, and all he could think of was Itachi, dead Itachi, and the moon—

Sasuke's eyes shot open.

He stared at the ceiling, barely breathing. Pink dawn was creeping in through the window.

That dream again.

It was like dying.

Sasuke pushed the covers off himself and stood, shaking. He went to the window with white knuckled-hands. He pushed it open, and looked outside across the sleepy roofs, shingled in red—old-blood red; Sasuke cringed—and silent.

The calm was like a punch in the gut.

He stood in the open window, and tried to breath.


	5. push you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: Ke$Ha. glitter. sugared smiles. les for being my other half.  
**notes**: so i'm writing three different drabble!series now. if i don't update—that's why. & i have good fashion sense.

**title**: push you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_she wanted to know the inside of his head—or at least, he wished she did_

/ / /

Sakura stood outside the Uchiha Compound, gloved hands on her hips. She looked up at the gates, and frowned. The iron was fragile; wrought and rusted, it _looked_ old.

She could crush it with one hand.

This thought cheered her immensely.

Sakura pushed her way through the gates. Dust and cobwebs and silence and ghosts followed her. She brushed them off like poison powder, and knocked on Sasuke's front door.

Dark-ringed dark eyes stared through the crack in the door.

Sakura was so not impressed.

"Are you ready to go? I'm supposed to take you to the training grounds."

"Hn."

Sakura looked at him funny, for a moment—like she was about to bat her eyelashes and only half-caught herself. There was a childhood crush in the almost-gesture, but the half-closed green eyes spoke of anything but that.

"Come on," she told him.

He watched her re-gain control of herself, like a face slipping behind an ANBU mask.

Sasuke wasn't sure if he liked it.


	6. scar you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: no sleep, obvs.  
**notes**: i feel old today

**title**: scar you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_of force and friction of fist against face_

/ / /

The ground cracked open.

Sasuke only barely managed to avoid falling into the chasm created by Sakura's fist. When he looked up at her, it was with respect in his gaze.

A vicious little smirk crossed Sakura's lips.

Well, it was _about time_.

She bent low to the ground, crouched. She jerked her head once.

The message was loud and clear.

_We fight all out, here_.

It had been so long since Sasuke had fought all-out. Not since—but then, those thoughts were best left behind.

"Are you going to fight me, or not?"

"You're annoying."

She punched him in the face and sent him flying.

/ / /

Heavy breathing—the taste of blood in his mouth—metal at his throat. There was blood trickling down her leg from a gash on her thigh—he was bleeding from his side.

They'd been trapped in a stalemate for ten minutes.

But all he could think about was the fact that she was beneath him, and if he moved his head _just so_—

Fear flashed in Sakura's eyes, and she pushed him off.

"I think—_huff, huff_—that's enough for—for today."


	7. leave you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: to the victims in japan & the phillipines & everywhere else. mother nature's lost her shit, & i hope everyone is okay.  
**notes**: canon ended in my head after Itachi died. just sayin'.

**title**: leave you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_she allows him to remind her that there is no memory that time does not deface;  
that there is no pain that death does not make numb_

/ / /

Sakura stood in font of Tsunade, twisting the hem of her shirt between her fingers. There was disappointment in the room, so palpable that Sakura could taste it.

"I can't, Shishou. I just—I can't. Not right now. I can't. I can't," Sakura exhaled.

"I expect better of you, Sakura," Tsunade said, but her voice was gentle and sad.

Sakura shot a glance up at the woman who had mentored her—Tsunade had put her back together when Sasuke(-kun) and then Naruto had left.

Tsunade sat in her desk, looking tired. The age jutsu was as perfect as ever, but Sakura could see the strain the woman was under. It showed in her eyes, in the downward tug of her mouth. Sakura didn't want to contribute to that, because there was a dark part of her that thought that if hadn't been for Tsunade, she probably would have been dead.

That wasn't something Sakura particularly liked to think about.

"Tsunade-sama, I want to go. Please."

Something, anything; Sakura hated desperation, but she was willing to do desperation, for this. _I need to get out of Konoha_.

Tsunade stared at her second apprentice, pensive.

"The only mission I have is ANBU, Sakura."

"ANBU is better than nothing," Sakura replied.

Tsunade wasn't surprised. She handed the mission scroll over, silent. Assassination—Sakura knew that that was the only work ANBU had, anymore. Sakura knew that that was the only work ANBU had ever.

Sakura grabbed it anyway and ran for her life.


	8. hurt you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: my perfect cousin. srsly, dani, when did you get cool? or did i just get old…?  
**notes**: sasuke fascinates me. can you tell?

**title**: hurt you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_he's got a cluttered desk, black coffee, and her radio silence in his ears_

/ / /

"OI, TEME!"

Sasuke really hated Naruto, sometimes.

He slipped outside, and closed the shadows of the Uchiha family behind wrought iron and time. The secrets of the dead were best left that way, Sasuke had learned.

Naruto was chortling.

That was never a good sign.

"Ohh, Baa-chan got you, teme, she got you _good_. You're on _filing_ duty until further notice!" Naruto crowed, clutching his stomach as he laughed. "I'm s'posed to take you to see Baa-chan."

Nothing good could come from this, Sasuke was sure. He stared at Naruto, eyes close to narrowing into a glare.

Naruto wasn't impressed—it was one of the side effects of being friends with Sasuke. One outgrew one's fear of death "Let's go, teme!"

"…Where's Sakura?"

Sasuke really hated that he had to ask that.

He hated it even more when Naruto chortled louder. "I was wondering when you were gonna ask. Sakura-chan went on a mission. I think."

"Hn."

"Sorry, teme. She's gone."

It almost didn't surprise him.


	9. ruin you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: jeremy's wallet. you are beautiful, you endless source of alcohol.  
**notes**: i was completely trashed when i wrote this.

**title**: ruin you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_the bloody smear of success across her hands_

/ / /

Sakura collapsed on her bed at the inn.

Her hair was matted with sweat, the pristine white of her ANBU uniform dirty—blood splattered across the front, turned rust-coloured as it dried. There was crusted blood under her fingernails.

"_Ugh_," Sakura said.

She hated getting blood in her hair.

The rush of cold water over her hands was a relief. She stripped off the uniform's white outer covers, and shoved it in the tub to soak. The water turned translucent pale pink in minutes as blood seeped out of cloth.

Sakura wrinkled her nose and went to run her hair under the tap in the sink.

Well, she _had_ asked for it.

The silence rung out in the room like thunder. She washed her hair of blood and sweat, watched the dirt circle the drain. She flicked the light out as she left the bathroom.

Sakura sat on the bed in the dark with wet hair and wondered why Sasuke made her so crazy.


	10. miss you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: um. lack of sleep. again. and sonya for talking me through plane flights.  
**notes**: yup, i'm getting old. fuck everything.

**title**: miss you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_she was everything they talked about yesterday_

/ / /

Sakura had been on her _mission_ for eight days, four hours, fifteen-and-a-half-minutes.

"OI, TEME."

One day, Sasuke decided, he was really going to kill Naruto.

"WE'RE GOING FOR RAMEN. ARE YOU COMING?"

Like Sasuke had a choice.

They left the Uchiha Compound minutes later.

(Sasuke would never admit how much of a relief it was to leave the compound every time he did it. Ghosts, there were too many ghosts, and Sasuke wasn't good at ghosts. He hated to have to admit that.)

Naruto was already chattering away at his side.

"So I was talking to Hinata-chan—can you believe how cute she is, she's so cute, man, like, for real—and we were thinking that, since, like, you know, it's almost Sakura-chan's birthday—"

Sasuke flinched. Glaring at the ground, he _flinched_ at the sound of Sakura's name passing Naruto's lips. It was a well covered flinch, but it was still a flinch, and while Naruto may have been dense, he wasn't _stupid_. It was kind of a hard look to ignore.

And this was _Sasuke_, for god's sake.

Sasuke didn't _flinch_.

"Ne, ne, teme, do you _miss_ Sakura-chan?"

"I do _not_," Sasuke muttered.

"You—you so do! You miss Sakura-chan! Omy_ramen_, I bet you love her, don't'cha, teme? You loooove herrrrr!"

"Naruto, you idiot, shut up. I do _not_."

"YOU DO. YOU DO. YOU LOVE SAKURA-CHAN. _OH MY HOLY RAMEN_, YOU LOVE SAKURA-CHAN! SA-SU-KE AND SA-KU-RA, SIT-TIN' IN A TREE—"

As Sasuke tried to strangle Naruto, he vaguely thought that Tsunade couldn't be _too_ angry. He wasn't even really breaking his _no-killing-people_ clause, because this was Naruto. He was probably doing the whole world a service.

The _whole world_.

Huh. It might even shorten his sentence.

Well, that was a happy thought.

Sasuke went back to throttling Naruto into oblivion.


	11. excuse you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: food. feminism. headache medicine. kierra.  
**notes**: i am so sick of school.

**title**: excuse you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_and these are the consequences of ignoring the truth_

/ / /

Konoha in the early morning was part of the reason Sakura had yet to forsake the village.

(Because there were times when she thought of it, times when running away seemed like the best option—those were the times when Sakura understood Sasuke's motivation to leave. If there was nothing else for a person somewhere, what was the point in staying?)

The smell of baking bread hung in the air. Sakura walked up the street with her pack over her shoulder. When the whole world was ablaze with early, early sunrise, and it was still too early for most citizens to have left their homes—that was when Sakura liked Konoha the best.

She slipped inside the Hokage building to report.

The place was already a beehive of activity, even this early in the morning. Sakura smiled a little as her name was called out in greeting and sang out in reply.

The noise died as she closed the door of Tsunade's office behind her.

"Uchiha was looking for you," Tsunade said. She didn't even look up from her paperwork.

Sakura shrugged. "Good for him."

And amber stare pinned Sakura in place as Tsunade raised her gaze. She gulped; she'd not been on the receiving end of that particular stare in a long, long time. It was like being x-rayed.

Sakura stood her ground.

Finally, after what seemed liked forever, Tsunade sat back and sighed. "Go. Just—go. Don't let him see you. I expect you at the hospital tomorrow."

It tasted like victory.

"Yes, Shishou."


	12. reject you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: sonya.  
**notes**: apparently the amount of writing i do is in relation to how much Ke$Ha i listen to. uhm. uh-oh? also, the error is annoying. and the snow is even worse. fuck everything.

**title**: reject you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_she can feel him inside her—he is a pale line of chalk beneath the surface of her skin_

/ / /

"_No_, Naruto!"

"But, _Sakura-chan_—!"

"I already said _no_, Naruto! It's not happening! Get it through your skull! I don't want to see him! I mean, I get it, I do! You want us to be a family again, and you want everything to go back to how it was, but it _can't_! Because I've changed! And you and Sasuke have your bromance—which happens to be bordering on homoerotic, just so you know—but I'm not part of that, and I don't _want_ to be!"

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto looked crestfallen.

"I said _no_, Naruto," Sakura said, dropping her voice to a gentle lull. "No."

"It's just ramen, Sakura."

Sakura and Naruto both looked up so fast, she was sure they looked comical. Sasuke was standing there, hands shoved in his pockets, looking something like amused.

But the anger that hid in the lines of his mouth when he looked at her was anything but that.

Sakura took a step back and shook her head. No, he wasn't going to guilt her into this—she wouldn't let him.

"I have to get to the hospital. I'll see you later, Naruto," she said.

And then she was leaving and _how do you like it when someone leaves, Sasuke, huh_?


	13. erase you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: to _pretty little liars_. fook yes.  
**notes**: OMG SUNSHINE

**title**: erase you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_she is his weather vane, even if she doesn't know it_

/ / /

Sakura sat on the roof with her arms around her knees up to her chest. Konoha's sunset burned across her cheeks, and she stared far, far away.

"I hate killing people."

"Hn."

"It's so messy. Blood everywhere. I hate getting blood in my hair. It's gross. I can't stand it."

"Understandable," he said.

"Why are you even here?" Sakura asked. She looked everywhere but him.

He shrugged and said nothing.

"Sometimes I hate you. Sometimes I don't. Sometimes I just… don't want to talk to you. Sometimes I never want to see you again. Sometimes I think I'm crazy. Sometimes I blame you. Sometimes I blame me. Mostly I'm just tired," she told him.

Sasuke just shrugged.

Had he been anyone else, she would have said he looked helpless.

But this was _Sasuke_. Sasuke didn't do _helpless_.

Sakura shook her head, and unlooped her arms from around her legs. She stood up. "I'm going to find Ino—I think we're going drinking. Tell Naruto I'm sorry. I just can't."

(Sakura hated how often she'd had to say that. Can't, wouldn't, couldn't—it was not what she was. _I think I can, I think I can_…)

"I'll tell him."

"I'm—I'm leaving." The words were out before she could control them. "I don't even know why I'm telling you. But I'm leaving tomorrow."

"How long?"

"A long time. As long as I can legally stay away. There's research I have to do, and I can't do it here. Tsunade-sama understands—she left, too. You left. Naruto left. You all _left_ and went to get _stronger_, but I never _got_ that chance. So I'm going now, instead," she said. She didn't look at him as she spoke.

Sasuke had nothing to say. "Hn."

"…We're not friends. You know that, right?"

"I know."

"Good."

Sakura ran her hand through her hair, stepped back into her bedroom, and closed the window.


	14. forget you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: rhys.  
**notes**: look, more stupid mistakes. i must collect them, or something.

**title**: forget you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_the world at his fingertips_

/ / /

Konoha forgot easily. Konoha forgave easily. Konoha loved easily. Time passes and things change, and Sasuke, of all people, ought to have known that.

Six months.

He hadn't really seen her in six months. He knew she was busy; he knew she was working herself to exhaustion at the hospital, knew she was on missions, knew she was conveying foreign dignitaries that would have no one less than the Godaime's apprentice, knew she was studying, knew she was researching, knew she was _gone_. He knew it all, but it did absolutely nothing to help his mood.

They all took her away from him.

There was no indication she'd be back any time soon, either.

Tsunade had him teaching. Sasuke didn't even know how it had happened—she'd walked into the Compound one day in the middle of late summer, and tossed a Chunin vest at him. He hadn't even really had a choice.

Surprisingly, Sasuke liked it.

Teaching, that was.

(Tsunade scared him shitless. He would never admit it.)

The students were bright-eyed and precocious, and although half the time he wanted to throttle them all, they were a good bit of fun. They were hectic and crazy and full of life, and to someone who had spent the better portion of the last three years of his life in a cell, they were a relief.

The Academy let out early in winter.

Sasuke tucked a scarf around his neck. It was navy and white, and he vaguely remembered that Sakura had given it to him, one Christmas a long time ago. At the time, he hadn't known why he kept it.

But he wasn't as dense as Naruto, and sometimes, he thought that perhaps she knew him best of all—perhaps she knew him better than he knew himself.

As he walked home, the snow flared brilliantly against the street light. The stars were pricks of light in the distant sky. The deep silence of the winter night sang.

It made him think of Sakura and goodbyes that were never really permanent.

Had Sasuke been anyone else, he would have whistled all the way home.


	15. dream you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: Fall Out Boy. r.i.p.  
**notes**: the writing order of this story is so weird. like. i don't even get it.

**title**: dream you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_he stands there and watches her crumble;_

/ / /

The dreams came when she least expected them.

Some of them good.

Some of them were simple and happy; like running through the forest with the wind in her hair for the sheer joy of the run; like sitting with Ino in the flower-shop laughing; like dipping her feet in the Nakano with Naruto and stuffing her face with dango and ramen, and medical jutsu, pumping life into a dying person and _watching them wake up_.

But most of them weren't like that.

Most of them were bitter.

Most of them were about Sasuke.


	16. lose you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: to elise, my beloved cow. DON'T ASK QUESTIONS.  
**notes**: this chapter is being a poop-head.

**title**: lose you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_the cancer of his affection bubbles in her stomach like acid_

/ / /

"SAKURA-CHAAAAAN!"

A blur of blond and orange threw itself on her.

Sakura went down laughing. "Naruto, are you _trying_ to break me? Get off, you're huge!"

Naruto jumped off, grinning widely. He pulled her up off the ground, her sunny, crazy, energy-packed goofball of an almost brother. "Ne, ne, you know I'd never try to break you, Sakura-chan! You'd kill me first."

Sakura smiled at him, lips parting over her teeth. "Well, it looks like you've learned something from all the beatings, Naruto. I'm surprised—I never thought it would take."

"Hey, that's insulting!" Naruto gasped, blue eyes wide.

"C'mon. You're taking me for ramen. I'll tell you all about the interesting things I learned!"

Naruto paled. "Uh—Sakura-chan… Not that I don't love you, because I do! But, uh, I kind of, uh, promisedHinata-chanI'dtakeherout? Please don't hate me!"

A sneaky little smile snuck over Sakura's lips.

"Took you long enough! Of course I won't hate you, but if you think I won't question you, you're—" she froze.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, concerned.

"Why is Sasuke standing over there?"

Naruto looked sheepish. "Sakura-chan, don't get mad. It's—he misses you. I know he's a teme. I know he sucks at feelings. I even know you're still, like mad at him! Not that I really know why. 'Cos I mean, c'mon, Sakura-chabn, _really_. He's _Sasuke_-teme. And, like…"

"_Naruto_," Sakura growled.

"Give him a chance, Sakura-chan. He means well."

Sakura glanced at Sasuke. He was just standing there, watching her through his bangs.

The gulf between them didn't shrink an inch as she headed home.

Maybe tomorrow.


	17. touch you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: kierra.  
**notes**: come on, this had to happen. it's going to happen in canon. why even fight it?

**title**: touch you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_his fingers against her skin are a gasoline fire burning in the dark_

/ / /

Sakura tumbled out of the bar pink-cheeked and giggling. Too much sake, too little time, and she was acting like a silly little five-year-old.

On anyone else, it would have been cute.

On Sakura, Sasuke thought, it was just kind of pathetic.

She toddled down the road outside of the bar, barely keeping her balance. That fact was impressive on it's own—Sasuke had seen how much she'd had to drink. She was shivering with the chills as she walked.

"Headed home?"

"Yes—no wai', yeah, I _am_ headed home, bu' it's none of _your_ business," she said, wagging a finger at him. Her gaze was unfocused.

Sasuke sighed.

This was not going to turn out well.

"Sakura, you can barely stand straight."

"Tha's-kay."

Sakura stumbled and Sasuke reached to catch her before she hit the ground.

It was the first time he'd really touched her since he'd knocked her out and left her on a bench. Sakura clung to him, drunk and shaking and laughing. Sasuke half-carried her home.

(He was always saving her, whether she wanted it or not.)


	18. help you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: my posse; you are my soulmates, my family. & dayne. who is perfect.  
**notes**: dayne is still perfect.

**title**: help you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_he's killing to her rhythm; she's banging to the beat of his drum_

/ / /

Sasuke never thought he'd be allowed on another mission. Not after leaving that one time. Not after that war. Not after that. Not after Karin and Juugo and Suigetsu and everything. Not after _Sakura_.

Frankly, he never thought he'd be allowed to use his chakra again.

And now, standing in the trees outside Sakura's house, bleeding out at 3AM, he wasn't sure if he ever wanted to again. His left arm was useless—he couldn't move his fingers. Blood dripped down his bicep.

(He was going back to teaching; it was less hazardous to his health.)

The window was unlocked. Sasuke's fingers left a smear of blood on it as he pushed through.

"Sakura."

She was passed out on her bed, still in her lab coat. It looked like she'd only been home for a few hours.

Sasuke winced.

She was going to kill him if he woke her up.

But facing a violent Sakura was better than facing the hospital.

Sasuke hated the hospital.

He shook her arm (and jumped back for fear of getting punched; at this point, one of Sakura's punches might actually kill him).

"Wha—wha's goin' on…? Sasuke? What're you doin'ere? What time izit…? "

"Sakura," Sasuke said again. Blood was dripping onto the carpet—she was going to have a fit in the morning. "I'm bleeding."

She sat up, eyes snapping open. "You're what?"

"Bleeding, Sakura."

"Kami-sama, sit _down_, you utter _moron_. Why didn't you go to the hospital?" She forced him down on the bed, eyes assessing damage. "What happen—you know what, I don't even want to know. You got blood on the carpet."

Sasuke winced. "I killed someone."

Sakura nodded. "No surprise there. What did they _do_ to you?"

"Hn."

Sakura shook her head. "Whatever you do, don't move."

Sasuke grit his teeth, and Sakura moved to press lightly on his shoulder. A hiss escaped him, and Sakura cooly shook her head, ignoring him entirely.

"Be aware. This is going to hurt."


	19. taste you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: to coketalk. omg. i want to fuck her.  
**notes**: a bottle of sand & a chessboard from vancouver is what i have to remember you by. also, i can't write fight scenes to save my life. so i'm just gonna not. kthnxbai. :)

**title**: taste you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_she leaves him on a high-up shelf in her memory to gather dust and cobwebs_

/ / /

Their spars got a little more violent, after that.

It was to the point where Sakura was actually trying to _hurt_ him. Not that Sasuke blamed her (who could blame her), but she seemed out for blood.

The sting of metal against metal had shivers running up Sakura's spine.

_It's too bad I can't skewer him with genjustu_, she thought absently, tucked up in the nook of a tree. _Damn his eyes_.

Sakura hit the ground with her fists out.

(Watching the ground shatter was her favourite part.)

"You can come out now," she sang softly, like a crazy girl, like the first word's she'd said to him weren't sacred or something.

But sacred was subjective, and a knife at her throat and his mouth at her ear had the world shuddering to a halt. He had her wrist caught in his fingers, arm around her waist, body pressed solidly behind her.

"Hello," he murmured, head dipped down and close.

_No_, Sakura thought. _No, this is __**not**__ okay, I am __**not**__ okay with this, Sasuke_—

"Sakura. Stop thinking," he whispered against her throat.

They stood together, still and perfect and barely breathing, swaying together in the breeze.

Until Sakura shoved him away.

"Don't," she said. "Just—don't."


	20. poison you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: tumblr.  
**notes**: mother nature has lost her shit, for realz.

**title**: poison you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_he writes a step-by-step guide on how to crash and burn_

/ / /

They both pretended that nothing had ever happened.

But there was a stiffness between them that hadn't existed before, an awareness. Sakura's skin burned every time she thought of it. It wasn't even a conscious reaction—it was just something that _happened_, something that she couldn't _help_.

Sakura shivered helplessly when he stared at her.

Sometimes it almost made her blush, but most of the time, it just made her want to break his bones. And wouldn't that be something.

(Given all the evidence to the contrary, it would really, really, really not be hard. Sakura could level mountains with her fists, should she so choose. Bones had nothing on mountains, even if they _were_ Sasuke's bones.)

For the following two weeks, Sakura worked herself into exhaustion at the hospital because being over-worked was better than thinking about Sasuke. Thinking about Sasuke always invariable led to _wondering_ about Sasuke, and that was something that Sakura never wanted to because to Sakura, wondering about Sasuke was the same as wondering about the shrinking distance between them.

And the shrinking distance between them was like missing him.

The shrinking distance between them was a shot of rat poison, and Sakura would take it willingly, because dying quick was better than living slow, she'd found.

Sasuke was so good, for that.


	21. teach you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: my cat for keeping my toes warm.  
**notes**: you seem better when i'm gone

**title**: teach you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_what does one say to a heart that loves her?_

/ / /

Heels clicked against the floor of the long Academy hallway. Sakura made her way to room 112—it was funny in a way, because that had been her old classroom; the place where she'd met Naruto and Sasuke. She didn't often think of this place, too drained and too busy to simply have the chance to _remember_.

But today, she was to teach an Academy class the importance of medical jutsu.

Or at least how it was the same as not dying.

Sakura thought it was ridiculous. Having a medic on hand during a mission was simply common sense, as far as Sakura was concerned. But Tsunade had insisted, and who better than to deliver such a lesson than the best of the best? Sakura sighed, and knocked on the closed door, before quietly opening it and slipping inside. There was no sense in waiting politely outside—she was Haruno (fucking) Sakura, and she wasn't going top wait for some snot-nosed Chunin to open the damn door and tell her how to do her own job. She was better than that.

Or not.

Sasuke stood at the from of the class, smirking. He had the classes' attention entirely swayed.

(Sakura had known he was teaching. But—)

"Ah—Haruno-sama has arrived to teach us how important medics are," he said. He inclined his head an inch in her direction, and the entire class swivelled to face her with curious, wide eyes.

Sakura smiled, all teeth. –sama? She was going to show him –_sama_.

"Thank you, Uchiha-_sensei_," Sakura said, batting her eyelashes.

It was with deep satisfaction at the twist to Sasuke's mouth that Sakura took the podium at the front of the room.

/ / /

The ringing of the bell was a start to Sakura's system. The children had seemed genuinely interested in what she'd had to say. It was… _refreshing_. There room had been full of an innocence that Sakura hadn't seen in a long time.

She stood next to Sasuke as the children filed out amidst shouts of "Bye!" and "See you tomorrow, Sasuke-sensei!" and "Come back soon, Haruno-sama!"

When they'd all gone, Sakura turned to Sasuke and smiled. "They really love you, don't they?"

Sasuke looked down at her, a content little quirk to his lips. "They're good kids."

Sakura stood there, struck a little dumb. He seemed… _happy_.

And that was when Sakura realized that despite her best efforts, she was falling all over again.


	22. avoid you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: to Cuddy, because holy crap, House, you're an _ass_.  
**notes**: stop asking me why Sakura does the things she does. i have no control over how she reacts; i just let it pour out.

**title**: avoid you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_why fuss over a pair of legs?_

/ / /

There was a very simple process that Sakura took, when trying to stay out of someone's way (read: when hiding from someone, and she was _always_ hiding from someone; from Kakashi-sensei's perviness, from Naruto's idiocy, from Sasuke's… _Sasuke-ness_).

_Avoid, avoid, avoid_.

But apparently, Sasuke had had enough of her disappearing acts; he was turning up all over the place, and Sakura _didn't know what to do_.

Tsunade had eyed her shrewdly, and shook her head. "You asked for this, Sakura."

"Don't I have _any_ vacation time stocked up?"

"No," Tsunade replied, looking bored.

Sakura huffed, and turned to leave.

"You're going to have to face him sometime, Sakura."

Sakura froze for merely a second, bristling as the words washed over her. She seemed to think about it, an Tsunade thought she could see the cogs working in the girl's head. And then she shook her head, pink hair flying everywhere, and walked out.

Tsunade sat back in her chair, and smiled at nothing in particular.


	23. kiss you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: rhys. also les. always les.  
**notes**: start the car and take me home

**title**: kiss you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_he is not subtle, she is not sweet, but they are both totally overrated_

/ / /

She was leaving the Hokage building, back still stiff, walking rigid and shaking, because what did Tsunade know about a broken heart? Sakura kept her chin up, wondering about medical incisions with a scalpel, and whether or not it was possible to live without a heart.

Being too numb to feel had its perks.

Konoha bustled with midday activity.

Sakura just wanted to go home.

But, god, she'd never even be allowed that, would she?

He caught her wrist, and pulled her into the shadow of an alley. Sakura didn't even know why she didn't fight it—probably because he was Sasuke, and she knew his touch better than she knew her own name. Her back was against the wall, crumbling brick jutting into her hip (and everything was crumbling; Konoha was crumbling—when had that started? Or maybe it was just her resolve).

Sakura looked up at him and smiled a razor-smile.

(She really ought to hate him, or something. Why didn't she hate him, again?)

"We have to stop meeting like this," he murmured, arm pressed above her head, obscuring her face and his.

"We should," she murmured in reply.

"Hn."

She could feel her self-control slipping. "I am going to _kill_ you."

"One day," he agreed. He was going to kiss her. He was going to kiss her and she wasn't going to do anything to stop him. Sakura found that she was unable to stop herself from reaching up and slipping her fingers into his hair to tug him down.

"One day," she breathed back to him.

"But not today."


	24. want you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: _the pretty reckless_.  
**notes**: "I figured out why Malta's always so mean to me! It's because she's, like, totally in love with me!" —Goodbody

**title**: want you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_they are an object fit for tears_

/ / /

Somehow it turned into some sort of sick _game_.

It became a game where he pulled her into alleys and broom closets in the Academy and she pushed him into nooks and crannies and empty rest rooms in the hospital. There were no rules, but then, when had there ever been rules between them?

First person who got caught lost.

And Sakura had always hated losing.

And Sasuke knew that.

And he was not above using it against her.

Because he wanted her. He wanted her more than he'd ever wanted anything in his entire life; more than he'd wanted revenge, more than he wanted the world's biggest tomato patch, more than he'd wanted a family; more than anything, he wanted Sakura.

Sasuke wanted Sakura with an obsessive, burning single-mindedness that he'd never encountered before. It had likely always lurked somewhere in his system, covered and shut up and holed away, because he'd had other things to concentrate on than the bright pink slip of a girl that Sakura had been.

She pushed him down on the examining table, lips feverish and searching up and down his throat, fingers tugging at his shirt.

Sasuke dragged his hands along her waist, and knew that she didn't belong to him yet.


	25. fix you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: to the real girls.  
**notes**: there is you and me and the feilds and the sun. i guess i'm leaving just as you're coming back. it's not fair.

**title**: fix you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_impasse; they are almost there, but not quite_

/ / /

He was sitting in her window.

"What are you even doing here, Sasuke?" she asked. She was tired, smelled of anti-septic, still wearing a lab coat.

He always had been good at bad timing.

He said nothing, and slid off the window ledge. His feet made no sound against the polished wooden floorboards of her room. He stalked towards her, all the liquid grace of a predator in his limbs.

Sakura had never felt like prey before.

She really, really, really didn't like it.

Sakura gulped. "You didn't answer me, Sasuke. What are you doing here?"

"Fixing things," he said.

"This isn't allowed, Sasuke," she murmured. "I'm supposed to be—"

"Does it matter?"

"I guess not."

"Hn."

His fingers slid up her shirt. He could feel her shivering under his touch as his fingers grazed along the scar across her abdomen. It was three inches long. It was three inches long and felt like she'd been run through with a sword.

Sasuke couldn't help it—his eyes flashed red. "Who did this?"

Sakura looked up at him through her lashes. There was something darkly sinister in her smile. "He'd dead. I broke his neck."

He looked at her for a long moment. The dark smiled remained.

Sasuke groaned and kissed her mouth.

He would fix her.


	26. hold you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: les.  
**notes**: i should do something with my life. or laundry. also i'm about to board a plane. fml.

**title**: hold you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_don't let the sun catch you crying_

/ / /

Sakura left the hospital at 2AM.

She just left. Didn't know where she was going, not really. Sometimes she just needed to walk.

(Usually she walked when she'd just lost someone, but not necessarily. Today the need to walk adhered to the pattern.)

It was black out, and perfectly silent. Sakura shivered in her surgery scrubs, too-thin cloth keeping in no heat. She rubbed her arms as she walked, feet leading her, and all Sakura could think about was that static line, _beep, beep, beep, beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee_— and the look on the boy's mother's face, and the blood that had crusted under her nails.

And then she was at her childhood training ground. And then she was slamming her fists against the wooden dummy, no chakra, just fists and wood and the steady pounding. Sakura didn't even realize she was crying until she realized that it wasn't just blood from her knuckles that was shining on the ground.

Half an hour later, Sakura sank to the ground on her knees, tears coursing down her cheeks, fist still pressed to the wood.

"Sakura?"

She didn't even look up.

"H-hey Sasuke," she hiccupped.

She could hear him walking towards her; she was—always had been, really—hypersensitive to Sasuke. Still.

He knelt down next to her. "What happened?"

Of course. He wasn't going to ask what she was doing at their childhood training ground in the middle of the night. He wasn't going to ask if she was okay. No, he was going to ask the only question that could make her come undone. Of course.

She smiled a weak little smile at the ground. "I—I lost someone, today, Sasuke. A little boy. He—he was only eleven."

"It wasn't your fault," he said, and had Sasuke been anyone else, she would have thought his voice was gentle.

She sniffled. "It's always my fault. I'm not good enough. Not enough chakra. He's dead because I couldn't save him."

It was the most awkward hug Sakura had ever experienced. Sasuke had both simultaneously tried to hug her and to not her at the same time, and the result was some sort of half-hug. For a moment, she stayed still in his arms.

Then the dam broke, and Sakura dissolved into tears with her face pressed into his chest.


	27. fuck you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: les. & to That Person: i miss you like you're dead because i never got to grieve you  
**notes**: sex scenes what?

**title**: fuck you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_he was by himself with her that night, fumbling drunkenly at her clothes in the dark_

/ / /

They were both drunk (she thought).

And she had no idea what she was doing (he thought).

But they were both wrong.

Sasuke slammed her against the wall, fingers bruising and searching and wanting and Sakura mewled because he _just wasn't close enough_. She wanted to drink him in, pull him into her skin, meld and forget because he was _never close enough_ and that killed her.

His fingers sent shivers skittering across her skin, skirt ridden up past her thighs, and she _just couldn't stop_. She was drunk and she couldn't stop and this wasn't supposed to be happening but that didn't stop her from rubbing against his naked chest.

Because she wanted this. Because he was Sasuke. Because she was Sakura and she was crazy and despite everything, _she still loved him_.

They fucked against the wall, and Sakura realized that she couldn't let him go.


	28. regret you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: eleni.  
**notes**: let The Morning After jokes commence.

**Title**: regret you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_her sweet symmetry all shattered_

/ / /

Sakura awoke to a dry-mouthed, foul-tasting hell, in a room that she'd never seen before. She very nearly sat up, before she realized that her head was pounding, and she was better off just not moving.

She flopped back down (and that hurt, too, but laying still hurt significantly less than trying to sit up), and curled into a small ball.

And that was when she realized that she wasn't exactly alone.

She rolled over, and looked at Sasuke.

Still-sleeping Sasuke.

There was something that was incredibly intimate about the whole moment, something that Sakura couldn't quite put her finger on.

Oh yeah, it was that Sasuke was beautiful, and she'd never thought that something like would happen.

But Sakura was so tired.

So tired.

And getting up would be a hassle that Sakura didn't want to deal with. Her head hurt, her clothes were… she didn't even know, and she was tired.

She would deal with Sasuke later.

(The repercussions didn't even occur to Sakura.

He was just _Sasuke_. What could happen, honestly?)


	29. need you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: PANIC! At The Disco  
**notes**: VOTE LIBERAL, CANADA.

**title**: need you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_he doesn't think he's scared of anything except happiness_

/ / /

Sasuke stared out at the rain through the compound window.

It was pouring. The rumble of thunder was loud in his ears as the sky lit with the crack of lightning.

Sakura had looked at him, just before she'd left.

It had been both the shortest and longest moment of his life, Sasuke thought, bemused. It had been too simple and too complex, and all she'd done was nodded, but somehow Sasuke thought that it—whatever _it_ had been—had gone a long ways towards pasting them both back together.

She'd just looked at him, green eyes calm, and nodded.

Sasuke couldn't believe that she hadn't left before he'd woken up. It would have been easier on her.

(She'd hooked her legs around him and whispered _I need you, I need you, why do I need you_.)

But then, nothing worthwhile came easy.

Sasuke of all people knew that.

_Baby steps_, he thought, almost smiling, and went to get dressed.

He had a class to teach.


	30. love you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: soul family. again.  
**notes**: IT'S SUMMER FOR REAL. YOU GUYS. I FINISHED FIRST-YEAR UNIVERSITY.

**title**: love you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_between them it became a silent story, one told only at night_

/ / /

He opened the front door and blinked, confused, at the girl swaying in the doorframe.

"Hi," she breathed.

"Sakura?"

"I don't feel so good."

Sasuke only barely managed to catch her before she hit the ground. Her skin was burning with the heat of a fever and tremors passed through her, teeth chattering as she unconsciously sought the heat of his body. Sasuke sighed, gathered her up, and brought her inside the compound.

She was so light. He frowned down at her, noted the shadows beneath her eyes. When had she last slept?

He set her on his bed, and stepped back to watch her shiver.

"I'll be right back," he murmured, and went to find more blankets. His mother had always said to _sweat a fever out, Sasuke-chan_, and it couldn't hurt to try, right? He pulled out two thick down covers out of the hallway closet—it was odd, he'd never had use of them before—and padded back to his bedroom.

Sakura was still, and Sasuke could only drop the blankets and trace the line of her back, one finger down her spine.

She shook violently, and as Sasuke covered her up, he realized that he'd probably loved her all along.


	31. keep you

**disclaimer**: disclaimed.  
**dedication**: to everyone who sticks with me. i don't know why you even like me.  
**notes**: early-morning!bed scenes makes me really happy. i can't explain it.

**title**: keep you  
**summary**: SasuSaku canon!drabbleseries. Well, at least the war is over.

—

.

.

.

.

.

_this is us making love at zero gravity_

/ / /

Sakura woke, feeling disoriented and sick, staring at a ceiling she'd only rarely seen before, and only once from this angle.

"Morning," said Sasuke's voice in her ear.

Sakura blinked, sleepy. "Good morning. How did I get here?"

"You were sick."

Sakura stared at him, still woozy. "Was I?"

"You were."

She squinted, casting for details of the previous night. She came up blank—all she really could remember was shivering violently at the hospital, and being ordered home.

(This seemed to be happening a lot. Sakura couldn't say she liked it.)

And now she was lying in bed next to Sasuke, covers soft and warm and she didn't even have the energy to move. But—

"I guess I should go," she said quietly.

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't go."

There was a lot of promise in that statement. There were a lot of possibilities, and Sakura wanted to explore them. He was still Sasuke and she was still Sakura and they would probably always have problems. They would probably always undermine and fight and she would always get drunk and he would always end up saving her.

And Sakura was okay with that.

She squirmed an inch closer to him.

(Just to see if he would let her.)

Sasuke sighed, and looped his arms around her.

"Comfortable?"

"Yeah."

(She would always be in love with Judas.)

_fin_.


End file.
